Stepping down the bridge of Parel railway station.As i walk on i pass by a tied up cow and people touch its butt and place their hands on their eyes ignoring its pissing.A weight machine,atm, chapal shops, bhajji shops, a small open temple all pass by.Then as i pass by a bridge casting its shadow beneath i enter the minislum.Each house seems to have a tail, as a water hose peeps out of their doors.The inmates bathe,wash clothes and utensils on the open using the water from this tail.Houses are placed like matchboxes with two toilets at the ends for the entire household.Then i cross a road bearing a fly over to enter the campus where my office is.

When the sun looks from the east...

     I work on shifts, sometimes on morning shift,few times on general shift and mostly on afternoon shift.During my morning shift as i cross this flyover,a filthy dressed kid cleans the area with a broomstick beneath the flyover as if she is cleaning her own home.Few metres away from her another filthy kid does the same.The area between two of the basements supporting the flyover is their home.Even the beauty of small kids is hidden by their filthy attire.They look abhorring.Stoves burn with their morning food getting prepared.One kid kicks another one with its leg and is having fun.A few adults are still sleeping both on the round basement supporting the flyover and on the floor.They have no home or may be the world is their home,bigger than any of ours.Our apartments are too small.Every home is a deep hole digged inside a wall closed by a door.The door has a hole too to check who is knocking at our door.Back in my town though houses have doors they are closed only during night time when sleep knocks in.During the day time,anyone walking by can say which home watches which channel,who are the new inmates in the home and even what is their today's preparation for meal.


When the sun stays on top....

           Its afternoon shift.Still some prefer sleeping as they have no office to attend to.The kids are still having fun.No meal is getting prepared now.May be 'Food should be eaten 3 times a day' is a false assumption.For my afternoon  meal, the waiter at SriKrishna hotel hands me a menu card.I am confused as to which food to order.Veg fried rice,Mushroom fired rice,Garlic fried rice,Ginger fried rice,Dhal kichidi,Naan,rotti,chappathi,puri,dhosa(with its own different versions),idli sambar(idli seperate with sambar),sambar idli(idli dipped in sambar),south indian thali,punjabi thali and so on.I go with dhal kichidi as usual


When the sun handles the baton to the moon...

                It is raining.The flyover inmates still prefer to sleep on the floor beneath the flyover and on the basement supporting the flyover since they do not have any other choice.They are covering themselves with thick cloth which appears like sack material.A baby brushes her hands on her mothers neck making sure she is sleeping nearby.Another baby is covered in a similar sack cloth with  its head alone popping out.It  looks like a doll, filthy though.Rain drops drizzling is ignored.The noise of vehicles passing by is muted.They are sleeping peacefully.A girl sleeping on the basement sees me passing by.As i notice her glaring, she puts her head inside the sack cloth.

This is a daily scene,the same video played back everyday.

When will they get out of this flyover?

May be,

When the fly over their filthy clothes chooses to fly over the Fly Over.